It occurs every year on the last Sunday in April, and even though it involves millions of people, it doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. It’s National Pet Parents Day, which honors the unbreakable bond between pets and their human parents. So, consider this my greeting card to you: Happy Pet Parents Day!
Richard Leagh did not know just how life-changing volunteering at Animal League America would turn out to be. He not only found the perfect cat at Bianca’s Furry Friends Feline Adoption Center, but he found his future wife — a fellow BFF volunteer — there as well!
The cats and dogs in Karen Ramanand’s life have helped her through some challenging days. So Karen always knew that once she retired, she would volunteer at an animal shelter. “I’ve had moments when things were tough,” she said. “But the pets I’ve had were always there to give me refuge and comfort.” After 27 years working in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Karen was finally able to make her dream come true, and we are thrilled that she chose North Shore Animal League America as the place where she wanted to devote her time.
Forty resilient dogs and puppies — representing a wide array of small breeds — arrived to North Shore Animal League America ready for a fresh start. Rescued in collaboration with long-time partner, National Mill Dog Rescue, these endearing animals came from commercial breeding facilities throughout the Colorado area, where their lives were at risk.
Diagnosed with parvovirus — a potentially deadly disease — three rescued puppies are currently being treated in our Freed Special Recovery Center, while 14 others from two separate litters are in quarantine and under our watchful, round-the-clock care.
It takes a special type of person to foster a pet, someone with a big heart — a heart that is open to loving and caring for a pet while knowing that they will one day have to give it up. In January we welcomed a young pup named Maggie, who spent several weeks being fostered by the Duncan family in Louisiana, where she bonded with the youngest member of the family, 6-year-old Roman. Even though he knew he could not keep her, Roman gave Maggie all the love she needed – and Maggie gave him the same. And when it was time, Roman helped Maggie find her perfect home thousands of miles away.
The world is full of things that divide us: borders, politics, religion, race, traditions, and most brutally of all, war. But there are also many things that connect us to one another and to our planet. One of those things is our compassion for animals and our commitment to help the helpless even at great cost.
Not even a coyote trap was going to stop Dolly — only a year old herself — from taking care of her babies. When North Carolina Animal Control discovered Dolly in the woods, she had the jaws of a trap clamped painfully onto her front paw, and her two precious puppies right by her side.
When several dogs tragically died last month after playing in a Brooklyn park, it was a grim reminder of the dangers that can lurk in our environment. Their deaths were traced to an outbreak of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that is spread by urine. The bacteria can be easily picked up by dogs who spend time outside.
Freya arrived at our Pet Health Centers enormously pregnant, and just in time. Transported to us with the help of our Tennessee-based animal rescue partner Rescue Dog and End of Life Sanctuary, this two-year-old Cattle Dog was about to face a fight for survival.